Wednesday, November 30, 2011

If you're not done with sensation and perception yet (or if you have time to go back, briefly) this world-record breaking effort at 3D street art might be worth sharing with your students. A huge understanding - these pictures show a bit of the "planning" and the final product, and this video includes an interview with one of the organizers/artists. Students could try to spot the monocular depth cues used!

One of the things I make sure to mention to my students during this unit is the use of language in terms of sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. We are often lacking in describing smells and tastes that those in other cultures would easily describe. To me, this is an important part of psychology--how do we understand the world around us and how can we best communicate it to others?

To learn more about ADD/ADHD, please visit the Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder website at www.chadd.org or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Scott Miller sent me this link for a great student authored video about neural transmission (thanks Scott!). The video goes "deeper" into the chemical details of depolarization that I usually did, but it's well done! Congrats students!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Our topic in psychology club this morning was "Brains!" One of our great club members asked me if I'd heard "Phineas Gage: A Song" on youtube and I said "No, but I need to!" As far as I can tell, the song is not only catchy, it's pretty accurate! (although I never heard the detail about a tea cup full of brains?)

Monday, November 7, 2011

@BrdCmpbll posted a link to a great biopsychology assignment on his Twitter feed today: Zombie Day! Here's his description of the assignment: "Market a product to zombies as a way to prove you understand the importance/function of an assigned part of the brain."

His students' work is definitely worth a look - great, creative ideas that effectively connect their knowledge about brain anatomy and function to their obvious affection for zombie-Americans. Mmmm... Brain Bits. Please vote for your favorites!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Unless you've been living under a rock - an iceberg, you probably are well aware that this is an exciting month for psychology: a feature film featuring Freud and Jung comes out on November 23rd nationwide. At THSP we're excited to feature this review of A Dangerous Method from our special correspondent, fellow psych teacher Kimberly Patterson:

With the succession of “psychological movies” out there, and an endless list of theatrical ventures of historical figures from psychology, I was surprised at the film that bubbled up at the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) 2011. On Friday evening, a colleague and I went to see A Dangerous Method – a film advertising itself as a historical account of Carl G. Jung and Sigmund S. Freud and their shocking friendship. This familiar camaraderie sets out with a bold woman who confesses her hysteria and becomes sexually involved with Jung, a Russian Jew named Sabina Spielrein. Multiple books exist about Spielrein, one of the first woman psychoanalysts.

I was stunned by the poignant dialogue and although I had many “what on earth?” moments, I found the film touching, lovely, and antiquely impulsive. Although this glance at the Jung-Spielrein story is solely alleged, the film captured viewers with the efficacy of talented actors, an eye-catching set, and costumes of the period.

If, by happenstance, the film makes it to your area, I encourage you to check it out. Lord knows we watch all types of movies for a $10 movie ticket – at least this one is entertaining in regards to the character portrayals.

And of advice from a nomadic character – “Never repress anything”. Enjoy!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

You know who you are: you're a THSP user. That's right, just like some people use PCP or LSD or even THC, you are a THSP. What is THSP? It's this blog of course - Teaching High School Psychology. What we want to know is this: how do you use this resource?

I am delighted that three of the moderators - Rob, Kristin and myself - are going to be presenting at the National Council for the Social Studies conference next month about how our fellow psychology teachers are using the information shared here in your classrooms. We have a lot of empirical data already - we know the number of hits that we get, our most popular posts, the countries in which our readers are located - but we'd like to add some stories from actual users like you. (No, you don't need to begin with "Hello, my name is John, and I am a THSP-oholic...")

So: please either post your thoughts in the comments below, or send me a note privately (ashejones@gmail.com). Please be sure to include your school, the subject(s) that you teach, and whether we can use your name. I would love to have all of your comments by Tuesday, 11/ 8. Thanks so much for reading our blog!

Brief summary of the article: social psychologist Diederik Stapel of Tilburg University in the Netherlands recently admitted to falsifying data for several of his published journal articles.

This controversy started a very lively discussion about implications and potential "fixes" on the PSYCHTEACHER listserve - a good reason to join that listserve if you like to read those kinds of discussions